
Book___iJ\^___ 



EUROPE AND AMERICA 



18 7 0. 






ALL 






NEW YORK: 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR 
1870. 



&f 



In h $% 
Wis* Hist. Soc. 



K^ 



The following article was written during the spring of 1870, and 
was intended for publication in the Atlantic Monthly. The war 
between France and Prussia suddenly broke out before it could ap- 
pear ; and the writer, seeing the impossibility of adapting it to the 
present situation of affairs — a situation which is every day changing — 
but desirous that it should not be altogether lost, offers a few copies 
in this form for private circulation. 

It seemed to him, as the result of a jonruey he made through 
Russia, Turkey, and Egypt at the time of the opening of the Suez 
Canal, that Americans, for obvious reasons, were kept very ignorant 
of the true bearings of the Easte rn questio n, and it has been his desire 
to give them a few facts by which they may be aided in forming 
their own opinions. 

It has also struck him that neither Americans nor Europeans were 
sufficiently alive to the position which the United States is destined 
soon to hold among the nations of the world, and that they ought to 
be diligently preparing themselves for it. Having faith that the 
Great Republic will not only remain undivided, but increase in terri- 
tory, population and strength, he sees it logically follow that she 
must later be the controlling power. In her, humanity, commingled 
together and then reorganized, will practically carry out the idea of 
self-government, and such a government, if successful, will be irre- 
sistible. 

The writer has endeavored to make impartial statements, and 
as such he trusts they will be received. 

N. A. 



EUEOPE AND AMEEICA IN 1870. 



Waes and rumors of wars must be, it would seem, 
for many years to come, the staple of talk in Europe. 
Nor is this remarkable, so many different nationalities 
and languages, so much intelligence and energy, and so 
many shades of ambition being concentrated in a small 
space of territory. Thus far in the history of the Old 
World those in power have generally sought by arms 
or statecraft to strengthen the country in whose des- 
tiny they were interested. Constant wars have been 
the result. The principles of international interest, 
of working in harmony to develop the resources of the 
globe, of which perhaps the best exponent is trade and 
the necessary concomitant peace, have been unfortu- 
nately considered beneath the dignity of those who by 
birth, by fortune, or by talent, have been able to hold 
leading positions. Happily this is being changed. The 
great discoveries of the last fifty years have given the 



6 

world such an impulse as it never received before. 
The comparative ease of making money and of possess- 
ing it in safety has caused persons to look after their 
own interest more than that of those who chanced to be 
their rulers. But the process of change is slow, and 
emperors and kings are still able to make wars even 
in opposition to the will of their subjects. Wars are 
still not only a possibility but a probability, and every 
one is on the lookout for them. When there is lack 
of other business the cabinets of Europe will turn 
their attention to the always- vexed question of the bal- 
ance of power. When newspaper editors are in want 
of interesting matter to fill their sheets they can ever 
bring out a glowing statement of the Eastern question, 
or dilate upon the relations existing between France 
and Prussia. 

The map of Europe never ceases to be an enter- 
taining study ; and so a slight review of the present 
state of affairs there, as seen and judged by the disin- 
terested traveller, may perhaps offer some points of in- 
terest to those who are unable to make the journey 
themselves. 

No one nation in Europe to-day seems to have a pre- 
ponderating influence over the others. England and 
France, for a long time the most powerful, have not, 
during the last ten years, been making any interna- 



tional progress ; and if they have not by this been ac- 
tually losing their influence, they have remained in a 
state of inaction, while others have made great ad- 
vances to equal or eclipse them. Nor is there to be seen 
in them any prospect of changing their policy. Eng- 
land is so much occupied with domestic questions, es- 
pecially those relating to Ireland, that she can give 
little time or thought to any thing else, unless of very 
great import. In France the holding the various dis- 
cordant elements in check, and forming out of them a 
strong and popular government, is absorbing all the 
talent of her statesmen. The aggressive enterprises 
that the existing government, or rather that its head, 
has lately undertaken, have been so fruitless and so 
doubtfully indorsed by the people, that it is not prob- 
able any thing of the kind will again be tried, unless 
upon an almost certainty of success. 

Prussia may, with a certain show of reason, con- 
sider herself the leader ; but her (so to speak) inland 
position, and the consequent difficulty of her having 
great naval or commercial power, prevent her from 
taking that place to which her arms and politics might 
entitle her. Besides this her relations with both 
Northern and Southern Germany are in & preparatory, 
but not completed state, and the uncertainty of her fu- 
ture movements and of how they will be accepted is a 



present point of weakness. She is recognized to be 
the strongest German nation, but the smaller indepen- 
dencies, certain though they may be of becoming event- 
ually absorbed, are tenacious of preserving their indi- 
viduality as long as possible. They hesitate about 
siding with or against Prussia, and, as she cannot well 
now press the question, matters are more or less at a 
stand-still. 

Austria cannot, since the Peace of Prague, be re- 
garded as a first-class power of Europe; she must 
regain her lost strength first, and for some time to 
come she will best attempt this by solidifying her 
relations with Hungary, and by infusing more ad- 
vanced principles of government into the authorities 
at Vienna. 

In Spain affairs are still holding their uneasy 
course, and the world looks on astonished at the way 
the country is taking care of itself; so many forms of 
government proposed by so many different candidates, 
that, in reality, there is next to none whatever, but, 
to balance this, a fair amount of contentment among 
the people. Not knowing what they wish, the Span- 
iards drift on very well with what they have. 

In Italy economy is so necessary to preserve the 
country that no thought can be given to any foreign 
ventures, while at Rome all other questions are dropped 



so long as the (Ecumenical Council is sitting there in 
state. 

Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, are engaged in 
discussing topics of much local interest, and which 
may, perhaps, result in the unity of the three nations, 
but they will have little influence upon the general 
march of events in Europe. 

Russia remains as the last great nation to be dis- 
cussed ; and here, on the stepping-stone between East- 
ern and Western ideas and civilizations, can be found 
the germs of those movements which, if not immedi- 
ately forthcoming, will, when they burst forth, startle 
the world with their grandeur, and essentially change 
the features of the map of Europe. The Russian Em- 
pire, as it exists to-day — the Russia of Alexander II. 
and Gortschakoff, the country which has emancipated 
twenty million serfs, and offered an equal trial by jury 
to all its citizens — the nation which, day by day, is in- 
creasing its territory and influence at home, and which, 
during a civil war in the other hemisphere, extended a 
kindly, though many will say a not disinterested hand 
to the party which represented progressive principles 
— the Russian Empire, the friend of the American Re- 
public, has many qualities which might justly entitle 
it to leadership ; but the strange mixture of European 
and Asiatic elements in that country, so great in extent 



10 

and so ambitious of progress, as interpreted by it, is 
the cause of a confusion of ideas, and prevents that 
unanimity of action which is necessary to insure the 
respect and obedience of others. Moreover, although 
the spirit of the people is extremely democratic, the 
policy of the government is autocratic, and in the lat- 
ter part of this century it is imj)ossible for any but a 
government founded on popular principles, and sup- 
ported by the people themselves, to command the 
esteem and the envy of the masses in other portions of 
the civilized world, and thus to give them laws. The 
seeds of dominion are there, but it will take time for 
them to ripen and bear their fruit. 

From this slight review of the position of the 
European nations in 1870, one cannot help being 
struck with the equipoise of power, and concluding 
that this itself is a strong guarantee of peace. But, in 
reality, the peace is not well founded, and cannot be 
abiding. It is an armed peace, and, as such, may cause 
the people deep anxiety. Several millions of men in 
Europe to-day are wearing the dress and drawing the 
pay of soldiers, and all for nothing. Disarming is 
continually talked of, but is not being begun, nor will 
it be as long as the nations are mutually afraid of each 
other. The pursuits of industry and commerce, which 
would develop with increasing force if j>eace were 



11 



secure for ten or twenty years, are now, to a great ex- 
tent, held in check. Capitalists are afraid of embark- 
ing in great enterprises, as they know not what may 
take place before they will be completed. Thousands 
of laborers, able-bodied and intelligent, through fear of 
being drawn into military service, are leaving the lands 
of their birth and emigrating to distant shores, there to 
seek their fortunes ; a great gain to the countries which 
receive them, but a more than proportionate loss to 
those they leave, as their places cannot be filled. 

One should not seriously wish for war except in 
the most extreme cases, and where the prospect of 
the good to follow seems more than to compensate for 
the immediate evil. Without admitting this to be the 
case now, but believing that the present peace cannot, 
from the press of circumstances, last many years, let us 
look a little into the future, and try to divine where 
it will be first broken, and what will be the results. 
It is to the east of Europe we must turn our thoughts, 
and here it seems as if great events would soon be in 
motion. The problem to be solved is the dismem- 
berment of the Ottoman Empire, and the consequent 
independence of one nation, and the increase in power 
of several others. The actors in the drama will be : 
Turkey, Russia, Egypt, Greece, and perhaps the Sla- 
vonic portions of Austria, the theatre will be parts of 



12 

Europe, Asia, and Africa, and the most interested 
spectators will be France, England, and the United 
States. 

It must be well borne in mind that the integrity 
of Turkey has been guaranteed for many years, if not 
actually preserved, by the Cabinets of France and 
England. So many pamphlets and articles have been 
written by those representing the interests of those 
governments on one side, and so little has been said 
on the opposite side, that it has almost become an 
acknowledged fact that the carrying out of this idea is 
necessary for the peace of Europe and of the world. 
Their arguments are strong, but will not influence him 
who visits Constantinople with an unprejudiced mind. 
The key to the riddle is the possession of that city. 
England and France know that they themselves cannot 
obtain it, and this being the case, they are determined 
to do all in their power to prevent any other nation from 
doing so. It is almost impossible, for one who has not 
been there himself, to form a fair opinion of what 
should be the future of that beautiful city of the East ; 
but once there, the decision is soon reached that it 
should no longer belong to the Turks, but to some 
people, whoever they may be, who will do justice to 
the advantages Nature has given it. Constantinople 
is so placed that it is one of the keys of the waters of 



13 

the world, and, as such, it ought to be a great commer- 
cial centre. The city, as it now is, renders this im- 
possible, and the Turks, judging from their antece- 
dents and their present manner of existence, are in- 
capable of change. A distinguished statesman of the 
United States one day asked the Turkish minister at 
Washington if, in his country, there were many per- 
sons celebrated for their success in finance or business. 
The minister slowly opened his dark, mysterious eyes, 
and, with a half-amused, half-pitying gaze, replied : 
" Sir, my countrymen know nothing of affairs ; the 
Turks are warriors." In the quiet answer of that 
Turk, a man who held not only a high position in his 
own country, but had also seen the active life in 
America, there is a meaning which one cannot well 
appreciate, who has not been among the people of 
whom he spoke. They seem to belong to a different 
age and world from ours. They know almost nothing 
of the wonderful things every day done in this nine- 
teenth century, and, if they are told, they take but 
little interest, and are incapable of comprehending 
them. 

As already stated, the city of Constantinople, until 
radically changed, does not admit of greatness, and this 
may need some explanation. From its construction, 
every thing must be done by retail / operations on a 



14 

grand scale are impossible. The narrow and dirty 
streets which traverse the city in every direction, from 
the numerous hills in the interior to the water which 
lines the city on one side, and divides it at the Golden 
Horn, the nights of steps which often take the place 
of the road when least expected, and the steep ascents 
and descents, render the circulation of large vehicles, 
whether moved "by animals or steam, impracticable, 
and consequently the transportation of bulky mer- 
chandise is extremely difficult. Every thing is carried 
piecemeal on the backs of men or animals, a slow work 
at best, and, were it not that the city swarms with 
human beings, little could be done. But this need 
not and should not long continue. Constantinople, in 
the possession of a strong and intelligent people, in- 
telligent enough to understand its deficiencies, and 
strong enough to be able properly to rectify them, 
could in a short time be made a different place. The 
principles of Baron Haussmann applied in opening 
some wide and straight thoroughfares, w r harves and 
warehouses built on the harbor, gas and water intro- 
duced, a system of drainage, and a fire department 
established, railroads running into the interior of the 
country, and some of the other civilizing appliances 
of this century judiciously put in movement, would 
soon change the mysterious city of the Orient, replete 



15 

with the souvenirs of Constantine and Mohaminecl, into 
a great commercial mart. The past would be sacrificed 
for the future, but the sacrifice would be justifiable. 
Useless Romance would drop her fascinating garment, 
and stand arrayed as the goddess of Practical Progress. 

The question, then, is, who will begin the work ? 
The Turks will certainly not; indeed, their opposition 
to it will be so strong, that it cannot well be under- 
taken until they see that their empire is broken, and that 
their natural refuge is over the water, into Asia, where 
they belong. The mover of all this will be the nation 
which has the most to gain from the results — Russia, and 
fortunately a nation fired with the ambitions of prog- 
ress, and with sufficient power to be able to carry them 
out. The intelligent men of Russia know that it is need- 
ful to the dignity of the nation as a sentiment, to its 
safety militarily, and to its commercial prosperity, to 
have all the water rights and privileges in the Black 
Sea, and in the straits which connect it with those wa- 
ters which are acknowledged to be the common prop- 
erty of mankind. Until this is brought about their 
machinery is clogged, and for this the possession of Con- 
stantinople is so important as almost to be a necessity. 

The Russians are already at the work, and the 
faster it advances the better. Slowly and steadily 
since the peace was signed at the end of the Crimean 



16 

war, the government at St. Petersburg, deeply hum- 
bled then, is preparing for the struggle which will re- 
store her lost rights and give her many additional Ones. 
Day by day she is spreading out her net- work of rail- 
roads, steamboats, telegraphs, and postroads. Imper- 
ceptibly she is increasing her territory, and this on 
principles so judiciously arranged for ths conquered, 
that each fresh Asiatic horde absorbed, soon becomes 
as proud of the grandeur of Russia as if it had always 
been a part of the empire. Vessels for the navy and 
commerce are being built on her northern and south- 
ern seas, and her large inland rivers ; her grain-trade 
is rapidly increasing, and her rich mines and other re- 
sources are being developed. But, besides all this, she 
has a strong point of safety in the intense feeling of 
nationality daily swelling, which pervades all the 
Muscovites. In sentiment the army is a unit, and the 
entire population of the vast empire shout wildly on 
every occasion for the health and prosperity of the 
Czar. There may be something barbaric in all this, 
but it is the stuff out of which national greatness can 
be made, and it may cause anxiety to those countries 
where such a feeling does not exist. 

The nation most interested after Russia in the 
division of Turkey (perhaps as much or even more in- 
terested, because her own independence is the prize she 



17 

can win) is Egypt, that historic land which, once the 
mistress of the world, but to-day a vassal, has in the 
future as fine a destiny as could be desired. The 
canal lately opened through the Isthmus of Suez has 
done more for Egypt than fifty ordinary years might 
have accomplished. It has turned the thoughts of 
civilized Europe for more than ten years upon that 
country, it has kept their attention interested, and the 
result has been more than satisfactory. Europe has not, 
in modern days, expected to find much good in the coun- 
try of the Pharaohs ; but it has found that, although 
matters there are not what the sanguine might wish, 
they are still, unquestionably, in every point where 
comparison is possible, very far in advance of Turkey. 
The infusion of Western ideas into the inhabitants of a 
land who have been brought up for centuries to despise 
them, is no easy task, but this the Viceroy of Egypt 
has been attempting, and with fair success. He appre- 
ciates the age in which he lives, as any one who has 
visited Cairo can plainly see, and he feels his superior- 
ity over the Sultan so strongly, that he is merely wait- 
ing for the time to be ripe to openly disobey the or- 
ders from Constantinople and assert his independence. 
Many thought, and with reason, that at the opening of 
the Suez Canal the time for this action had come ; but 
nothing was then done, perhaps because the armed 



18 

force of the Khedive was insufficient for the attempt, 
or that having accomplished a great commercial success 
he hesitated risking a military failure, or, more prob- 
ably still, because the diplomatic complications were 
such that he could not make an advantageous alliance. 
For what is to be done Egypt should go hand in 
hand with Russia, but at the present time this is a dif- 
ficult combination to form. In constructing the Suez 
Canal France has done every thing for Egypt, and the 
presence of the Empress Eugenie at the opening cere- 
monies was the natural conrpletion of the work. An 
alliance between France and Egypt, strong enough to 
give France a foothold in the East, and thereby to 
checkmate the power of England, but not binding her 
to make a rupture with the rulers at Constantinople 
on the question of Egyptian independence, would be 
a fine thing for Napoleon, but would do Ismail little 
good. A rational alliance between Russia and Egypt, 
each country working for itself and the other, would 
be desirable enough, but for this it would be necessary 
to give France the cold shoulder, and in return receive 
her resentment. Russia, France, and Egypt, cannot 
now combine together : the results of the Crimean war 
are not forgotten at St. Petersburg ; and, besides this, 
the existing relations between Russia and Prussia on 
other European questions are such that the former 



19 

cannot yet offer France a friendly hand. The am- 
bition of Napoleon is boundless ; but he knows that 
the prestige he would acquire in working out the inde- 
pendence of Egypt would be overbalanced by what 
would fall to the share of the Emperor of Russia. 
England, too, could not keep out of the dispute, and 
although lately she has been very silent on the East- 
ern question, at the moment of action, regardless of 
what she has done in the past, and of her half-promises 
for the future, she would bring great force to bear, and 
in such a way as to derive advantage for herself alone. 
The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Greece have 
both something to gain from the dismemberment of 
the Ottoman Empire, but in their present condition 
they must move in the wake of others, they cannot 
lead the operations. A masterly brain and arm might 
unite the different Slavonic elements on the banks of 
the Danube, part of which now belong to Turkey, and 
amalgamate them into the Austrian Empire ; but it is 
doubtful if this would be a desirable move, for while 
it would give strength in territory and population to 
Austria, it would tend to weaken the German element 
of the country, and this would be fatal if she wishes to 
be regarded as the great South-German nation. The 
title of Kaiser of Germans always has and could still 
give prestige, but the same title held by one whose 



20 

empire was in reality composed of Slaves, would not, 
but on the contrary aid the government of Prussia in 
i^s plans of German unity, and unity on a more demo- 
cratic basis. Austria's best course, therefore, would be 
to take no active part, but to await the results, and 
turn them as best she could to her advantage. 

The Greeks and Turks have never loved each other, 
and while Greece is too weak for definite action at 
first, she could later lend a helping hand in the move- 
ments which would result in restoring to her the prov- 
inces of Thessaly and Epirus, which, though under the 
dominion of Turkey, are Greek in every thing but the 
name. Greece thus regenerated might again become 
quite an important country, and, with the commerce 
which the Suez Canal opens to her with the Indies, 
take her place as a growing maritime nation. 

There are no other important moves now apparent 
in the horizon of European politics. As mentioned 
above, the great powers are too much interested in do- 
mestic affairs to be able to give much thought to what 
their neighbors are doing. It has been expected by 
many that the continued growling heard, both from 
France and Prussia would, sooner or later, end in open 
rupture and war ; but one who watches the course of 
events closely can see that, while they both say they 
are ready, neither of them desires to break the peace. 



21 

Neither will be the first to sound the alarm, for they 
both know they have almost nothing to gain from the 
result ; for should the war come, it would accomplish 
little but the destruction of the lives of many thou- 
sand soldiers. Whichever side was victorious, the 
boundary-line between the two nations would be but 
slightly changed. The existing line is the natural one, 
for it is the line of language and race ; and, although 
war could move it on one side or the other for a time, 
it would soon fall back again to the place from which 
it started. The strength of the two nations is so nearly 
equal that neither can absorb portions of the other : 
the Rhine is a German river, and neither diplomacy 
nor war can make it French. 

And now, in conclusion, what position should the 
government, or rather the people, of the United States 
take in relation to the march of events in Europe? 
Are we to hold forever to our established principle 
of non-intervention, when we conscientiously believe 
that judicious intervention would often advance the 
cause of progress ? Better at least keep the right of 
sjDeaking and acting as we please, but use it sparingly, 
and never hesitate to give sympathy and moral aid 
(sometimes more helping than actual assistance) to 
the parties in any struggle which we believe to have 
justice on their side. 



22 

But when we look into the future, and a no very 
distant future at that, and consider that, at the end of 
this century, without territorial increase, we shall be a 
nation of one hundred millions, and that it is not im- 
probable that we shall be the possessors of the entire 
Northern Continent of America, and give protection to 
many of the nations in the Southern, and thus have 
under our control and laws at least two hundred mill- 
ions, thinking persons can easily see that the pre- 
ponderance of strength in our favor will be so over- 
whelming, that non-intervention will be a practical im- 
possibility. The weak of the earth will come to us 
for protection, and we shall not wish to throw them 
off. What a country it will be in 1900 ! One hun- 
dred million people, all with a strong sense of liberty, 
but not of license ; all educated, or desirous and able to 
become so ; all ambitious because the highest j)rizes are 
within their reach ; nearly all speaking one language ; 
with private fortunes greater than the world has ever 
seen, and with the natural resources of the country 
then in their flower. One cannot dwell upon this pros- 
pect without swelling with pride, and at the same time 
almost trembling at its very grandeur. The mighty 
Republic of the United States, which sprang into exist- 
ence less than a century ago, will be the acknowledged 
law-giver and arbiter of the entire world. 



23 

Perhaps at no time has the temptation for us to 
mix in the affairs of Europe been so strong as to-da} 7 , 
because, selfishly speaking, we have every thing to gain 
and nothing to lose. A mere spark, which could any 
moment be struck at Washington, would in three 
months time set Europe in flames. An excuse like 
the Cuban difficulty, the long-pending question of the 
Alabama claims, the relations between the Sultan and 
the Khedive, or the foolishness now going on between 
France and the United States about the postal treaty 
or the Atlantic cable, any of these would be sufficient 
to do the work. And what would be the result? 
Thousands and thousands of able-bodied men, with no 
taste for war, and especially war for the gratification 
of crowned heads, would seize every opportunity of 
leaving their native lands and hastening to America. 
It would be impossible to prevent them. Millions 
and millions of treasure seeking safe investment would 
find its way to the United States, and all that is 
wanted to develop the country is hands to work the 
natural resources, and money to pay for it. America 
would become, what England has been for many years, 
the strong oox of the world. England can be so no 
more. Telegraphs and steam have put her so near the 
Continent of Europe, that she can no longer be re- 
garded as a sure land of refuge for men or money. 



24 

Nay, it is doubtful if she could actually keep out of 
the conflict. The safe must be separated from the 
combatants by a broader piece of water than the 
Straits of Dover. Three thousand miles are not too 
much for perfect security. The action of the United 
States could bring on any war it wished, but the coun- 
try itself would have nothing to fear. Its strength is 
so great that it could meet fairly in the field any possi- 
ble combination of the nations of Europe. The feel- 
ing of animosity between the Northern and Southern 
States, which has existed during the civil war, but 
which is happily now almost over, would end in fra- 
ternal entliusia8m, if the country should engage in a 
popular war against any other nation. But the car- 
nage, once begun in Europe, could not be carried over 
the Atlantic, as there would be enough to keep it 
there. The United States would be in any case the 
attacked and not the attacking party, and modern 
warfare has arrived at the point that, other things 
being equal, the party which attacks a distant land is 
almost sure to be worsted. What would fall to the 
lot of the United States would be the business of the 
world. The carrying-trade of the nations would be 
done by her, and the problem of the revival of her 
shipping be by the action of others solved. All the 
merchant- vessels which plough through the Atlantic 



25 

and Pacific Oceans, would claim the protection of the 
stars and stripes, and this means limitless sums of 
money poured into her treasury — wealth to the coun- 
try and wealth to private individuals. The prestige 
of her flag would be such as none has ever had before. 
Such is the prospect which opens before the vision 
of the people of the United States to-day. Deeply 
conscious of our great power, let us be equally con- 
scious of our responsibility in best employing that 
power for the benefit of mankind. Let us remember 
that our path is the path of peace and not that of war; 
let us endeavor not to be turned from it by the con- 
stant temptations of false glory, for, if we are, we shall 
ourselves suffer for it later, and cause others to suffer 
too. It is for us to show to Europe not what advan- 
tages can be derived from war and diplomacy, which 
are the weapons of the past, but what greater advan- 
tages can be derived from the weapons of the present 
and the future, the weapons of our own peculiar fabrica- 
tion, such as the nobility of labor, and universal educa- 
tion and freedom. Only by acting thus shall we be 
able to prove to the nations who are even now " hang- 
ing breathless on our fate," that we truly carry with 
us a grander civilization than has ever yet been seen. 



/ruzt. M<l 




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